As Amanda Martinez sped down the freeway in January, the eight children in her minivan screamed for her to stop.

It was 1:30 a.m. and Martinez was arguing with the man in the front passenger seat; they had both been drinking.

The children's pleas went unheeded, and as the man grabbed the wheel, Martinez slammed into a retaining wall on I-43. Luckily, no one was seriously hurt, even though none but the youngest child, a toddler, was properly restrained in the minivan.

Martinez, 30, and Ellis Toms, 36, were both charged with several crimes, and both are going to prison.

"If we're not going to send a message that we're committed to protecting children, we as the courts risk losing all credibility with the community," Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Jeffrey Kremers said.

He sentenced Martinez to 20 months in prison, followed by three years of extended supervision. He ordered mental health and substance abuse evaluations, and parenting classes.

She had pleaded guilty last month to two misdemeanor counts of child neglect, as party to a crime, and first-offense drunken driving, with minor passengers. Six other counts were dismissed but read in for sentencing.

Kremers called it "almost inconceivable" that Martinez's minivan didn't roll over when she swerved at 78 mph, and a "compounding miracle" no one was seriously injured.

Her 12-year-old son recorded audio of the frightening ride. Kremers called the terror in the children's voices as they cried, screamed and begged Martinez to stop one of the more disturbing things he's heard on the bench.

Toms, 36, the father of four of the children, pleaded guilty in March to second-degree recklessly endangering safety and a misdemeanor count of child neglect. Several other neglect charges were dismissed. He was sentenced to 16 months in prison, plus three years of extended supervision, and ordered to take parenting classes.

Martinez's children, ages 1½ to 12, have been put in foster care. Kremers found it telling that they told investigators the ride wasn't the first time their mother had threatened to kill them all while drunk.

Her attorney, Frederick Klimetz, said the incident began after Martinez returned to the home where she'd been staying with her children around midnight, and the owner said they all had to leave — immediately.

Klimetz said Martinez — who has an old and very minimal criminal history — has already completed a parenting class, a domestic violence workshop and is committed to reuniting her family. He recommended three years of probation.

"She's not the type who needs prison, she needs help," he said.

Kremers said her claims of caring so much for her children ring hollow, given her actions on Jan. 10. "That night it was all about you," he said, and her kids were just so much cargo in the back.